In the real world, money has some attachment to value, and hence responsibility and morality. Money from a job provides for the care of the individual or family, future security, entertainment. Fiduciary responsibility and stewardship are important. Even the richest among us who have no need for this material value may find value in money as a way of keeping score in business or society. In the real world, bad morals with regard to money are practiced. You have to protect your money, because it can be stolen. Acting irresponsibly with your money is a bad thing. If you have a lot of money, then people think better of you, as if you either have better morals or you can give them some of that money. People dress nicely, in part because it indicates that they have some money.
Las Vegas is another world, where money is treated as just a number. When the chips start flying, or slot machine starts whirring, the value attachment is dissolved. It doesn't matter whether you are at a low stakes table or a high stakes table, you are treated similarly well (the service in Vegas is just awesome). If you lose money, it's no poor reflection on you. If you win money, you haven't earned it. Most people dress in jeans, even at the very high stakes tables. That's not to say that a certain minimum of money isn't the necessary entre into this synthetic world, but the minimum is very low. Your money is not stolen from you in Vegas. The odds are bad in many instances, but everybody knows what the odds are.
This is the first time that I have encountered a place with such studied amorality with respect to money. Any other place would collapse upon itself with such an attitude. But it seems to work in Vegas, because they have visitors who are willing to respect and fund this amorality.
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